Be Not Afraid

Spring 2010 Issue | Posted by Barb Ernster in Everyday Apostles

TRUTH THAT’S ALWAYS IN FASHION

Rose Barrett, University of Minnesota

Growing up in Catholic schools, Rose Barrett felt well prepared for college life, and Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla., was an easy transition. But when she transferred to the University of Minnesota near her hometown to pursue fashion design, her faith met its match.

Faced repeatedly with courses that undermined her Cath-olic faith, Barrett, 24, could no longer remain silent. The tipping point came when an art history professor highlighted a sacrilegious image of the crucifix in a jar of urine and asked the class to bid on it as if they were at an art auction.

“Even though I was nervous to approach her, I did it for the glory of God and to remain faithful. My faith is such a gift and it was so disrespected. I just wanted her to acknowledge the blasphemy behind what she was doing,” said Barrett, adding that Catholicism was the only religion mocked in the class.

Instead of getting an understanding ear, however, the professor told her it would only get worse, “almost rubbing it in my face,” said Barrett. The experience unlocked a deep well of courage in her.

“From that point forward, I found that we really do have the freedom of speech, and I need to embrace that gift and not be afraid to stand up for the truth when given opportunities.”

Barrett has been unafraid to witness her faith on campus since. She has spoken to a number of professors, voicing concerns about questionable materials or subject matter that is against Catholic teaching.

She is actively involved in the newly formed Students for Human Life, which has brought a pro-life voice to the campus. She delivered a persuasive speech against co-habitation in speech class, and an informational speech about three religious orders, including her sister’s life as a cloistered Carmelite.

Barrett is certain she was shunned at the fashion design school because of her well-known pro-life views and her attitude that clothing should complement the dignity of the body. Still, Barrett knows God has a plan for her, and believes that if you look at people and situations through the eyes of faith, such good can come of it.

“It can be uncomfortable to stand up against the current and what our culture is telling us is right,” she said, “but it’s the truth, and Jesus wants us to share it with others.” She considers it a precious gift to be able to do just that.

“ASK A CATHOLIC”

Douglas Jeffers, Texas A&M University

Douglas Jeffers converted to the Catholic Church while attending Texas A&M University. He is now challenging others to ask the same questions he did while on his journey.

Jeffers, 21, is one of 30 students who spends an hour a week on the sidewalks, wearing a bright neon shirt that reads, “Ask a Catholic a Question,” a campus ministry program of St. Mary’s Catholic Center. In conversations with passing students, he frequently uses his conversion story to counter charges that he is brainwashed by the Catholic faith.

“I can tell about the experiences of grace that I’ve had since coming to the sacraments and the Church, which is more effective than any kind of apologetic discussions,” he said. “In the modern secular mind, preaching can be a little off-putting. We say hello to people when they walk by and ask if they have any questions. We consider just eliminating the misconceptions about the faith to be the most important part of the work.”

Jeffers grew up with a lot of those misconceptions as a member of the Church of Christ. While in high school, he started reading more history and kept running into the Catholic Church. The more he looked into it, the more he realized that if the apostles were around today, they would be Catholic.

He joined the RCIA program on campus and entered the Church in April of 2007. He has been involved in campus ministry ever since.

Jeffers talks to people of all different faith backgrounds, non-believers and foreign students who are interested in the phenomenon of religion in America.

“I talked to a guy from Turkey. He was interested in the sight of people standing out here engaged in religion,” said Jeffers. “Atheists and agnostics some-times ask questions about science and faith or just want us to explain what we believe in a nutshell. We talk to a lot of Catholics who quit going to Mass for no particular reason, and we tell them the Mass schedule and invite them to get involved. We run into a lot of Catholics who are engaged in their faith and want to see about doing this themselves. That’s the fruitful part of the ministry.”

Jeffers said “Ask a Catholic” has instilled in him a missionary zeal and a desire to bring other people to experience the same kind of grace that he did. He is now discerning a vocation to the priesthood, and it is that missionary aspect of the priesthood that is drawing him.

“It’s exhilarating to think that you’re doing the same kind of work that the apostles were doing and meeting the same kind of discouragements,” added Jeffers, “but we’re planting a lot of seeds.”

CUTTING THROUGH THE APATHY

Alberto Gonzalez, University of California, Berkeley

Alberto Gonzalez considers the University of California Berkeley to be a bastion of liberal thought, but believes most of the students are just “indifferent to a lot of things.”

As president of Berkeley Students for Life, Gonzalez, 22, has had an opportunity to see the indifference up close and shed light on the issue of abortion, where no light seems to exist. He spends time each week talking to students as they go from class to class, organizes speakers and pro-life events on and off campus, and supports pregnancy resource centers.

“The biggest challenge is cutting through the apathy and not the visceral opposition. It’s hard to get a person to change their mind on a topic of this nature, especially at Berkeley, but some come to understand our position better and see it as more reasonable,” he said. “They don’t expect such well-developed arguments from us and that people like us would care about women or the child after it’s born.”

Gonzalez was instrumental in bringing the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) to campus in October. GAP is a huge display of photos of various groups of people killed by acts of genocide, including the preborn through abortion. It’s the type of display that brings about more hostility on campus, said Gonzalez, but it is also a catalyst for deeper discussion and education.

“The justification for genocide and slavery and human trafficking is that those people are seen as sub-human; they’re not recognized as persons with equal value and dignity,” he said. “We draw the comparisons and show how evils are justified and the similarities with justification for abortion. If we take something that’s universally rejected as evil and apply that to abortion, it’s a very compelling message.”

Gonzalez is unafraid to address the issue from a theological perspective, as well, citing documents of the Catholic Church and the writings of Pope John Paul II and Pope Paul VI as sound reasoning for the pro-life issue.

After graduation, Gonzalez hopes to take his political science major to Washington D.C. and work to include pro-life/pro-family principles in public policies or the political arena. His Catholic faith is at the heart of his ambition.

“I value the importance of prayer, the Rosary, Mass, and the Gospels. Prayer is one of the best things we can do to promote this message and build up the Kingdom of God on earth.”

Barb Ernster writes from
Fridley, Minnesota.

Reach teens with the faith: OurFaithInAction.org • Homework. Tell us about an Everyday Apostle. Contact info., page 6.

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